68-year-old Heiner Kullack, German tourist and retired teacher, sees orange lights in the sky over Prospect Bay, Nova Scotia, and wonders if he’s seen a UFO. In reality, he has seen flares launched by a CC-130 on a SAR training mission.

Not too many Canadians will have experience with military flares, because few Canadians have great familiarity with the tools of the military trade. But in Germany, all young males are required to serve nine months in the Bundeswehr (unless they are medically unfit, or a conscientious objector). This has been a feature of Germany’s Basic Law since 1956, when conscription was re-introduced.

I’m a little bit mystified as to why Herr Kullack failed to figure it out.